Issue 82 - On the road

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On the road

Part one of the tale of the three men, three motorbikes, five distilleries, and the search for one blended malt.

The idea of Journey's Blend was to travel nearly 1,000 miles through Scotland's finest landscapes and towns on iconic British motorbikes selecting the ingredients to create a one-off special blend malt.

The journey would see the team,consisting of Whisky Magazine Editor Rob Allanson, BBC Scotland presenter Tom Morton and photographer Ken Hamilton leave Orkney to head to one of Scotland's newest producing distilleries on Islay, Kilchoman, then travel to Bladnoch in the south before heading north east to Glen Garioch.

These distilleries represent the furthest points on Scotland's distilling map. The trip ends at Glenturret Distillery, home of the Famous Grouse, Scotland's oldest and one of the most central distilleries, forming the compass hub.

Whisky guru and master blender for the Edrington Group John Ramsay would meet the team there and create the final bottling.

TUESDAY JUNE 2ND LITTLEPORT TO FORTROSE 600 MILES RA: The total sum of about nine months of planning all culminated in meeting a chap with a fabulous handlebar moustache, in leather trousers outside Kiss Kiss Lingerie on the A47.

Interesting place and thankfully easy to spot, with its red neon sign.

This was the auspicious and unofficial start to the Journey's Blend trip, the official start being at Highland Park more than 600 miles and one ferry trip away.

The Triumph Bonneville SE, kindly on loan from the factory,was running perfectly and the bike and I were starting to get used to each other. It is a great...